heart of the cards baby!

Callum was hesitant, as he recognized the guy from the night of the riot, but couldn’t prevent a laugh at the trick. “That is pretty dope,” he said, but shook his head at the offer. “I’m pretty confident I would just make myself look stupid so I’ll leave that to the professional.”

“Sweet!  Excellent choice, homie!” Mark beamed as he handed the Dom a new lollipop.  “Oh wait, do you want strawberry flavor or cherry?  I think those are the only two I’ve got left.  I think I’ve licked the rest of them...”

Abe’s eyes widened. “I want to try!” he said, accepting the extra lollipop. Pulling the wrapper off, he threw the snack up and caught it with his mouth. “Yum!” he said, smiling.

Mark watched, eyes wide with glee and excitement as he watched the expertise of the other sub.  “Amazing!  You’re amazing!  You got skills, dawg!” he grinned.  “I almost always hit my teeth sometimes when I do that!”

While Aidan was well aware of just how easy it was to get himself into trouble these days, that didn’t stop him from being absolutely reckless. That explained exactly how he’d gotten here, knowing better than to fall victim and yet, still walking right into anything. 

“While I think it’s going to end up a choking hazard, yes. I’ve never wanted anything more.” 

Mark’s grin widened brightly as he beamed now at the man.  “DOPE!” he shouted as he handed over a new lollipop over to him.  “A tip of advice, ya gotta commit.  And hand-eye coordination.  And mouth-eye coordination.  And hand-mouth coordination.”

“Oh yeah. Cause I wanted to add choking hazard to my day, how did you know.”

“Tsk, come on, Jimmy!  It’s fun!  Give it a try!” Mark offered again, sticking his hand out toward the fellow Montague, a fresh lollipop in his grip.

“I don’t care, just get it sorted,” Martina exclaimed before she ended the call with a loud groan of frustration.

“Miss Martina!” Mark called out excitedly with a large beaming smile.  Plopping down in the seat across from her, he looked at her with large puppy eyes.  “What’s wrong?  Anything I can do to help?  I can throw a Molotov cocktail at whatever you want.  Consider it done.”

Dawg? Adelaide didn’t think people said that outside of bad American movies. But he had said it with the complete confidence of someone who either genuinely did this regularly or had seriously committed to his character for the night. “Oh, yes, I’m fine. Just admiring how beautiful everything here is. How are you?”

Mark sidled up beside the woman and walked slowly beside her.  He could sense some nervous vibes from her; he could get it though since everything was so exciting!  “Hell yea, everything is so pretty--pretty beautiful!” he chuckled.  “I’m fantastic!  Everyone’s been so nice and this place is so cool!  Imagine living in a place like this.  It’s like... if you live at a museum or something!”

The voice and inflection was familiar, perking up the Dominant’s ears and one eyebrow as he turned to give the male more of his attention, somewhat certain he knew who was behind the mask, even if he wasn’t 100% sure who. “A guessing game, hm? And how are you doing thus far in this… game?”

“Yea!  Like, trying to guess who you are.  I mean, maybe I know you, maybe I don’t.  I think I’ve been doing okay.  No one has said I’ve been wrong so far but like most people just walk away so I’m probably right.”  He paused for a moment and tilted his head to the side as he looked over the man.  “Wait.  Are you a celebrity?  Someone super famous who is trying to hide their secret identity?”  Another pause and then a gasp.  “Are you a superhero?!”

One eyebrow quirked, silently pleased by the other catching himself. “It’s a bit more than that, but I suppose, yes,” he agreed, chuckling. “No rollercoasters, but we do have an elevator. And a Baladin– Nora’s the only kind they have in stock– if you’re offering.” 

Mark couldn’t help as his face fell hearing that the banks didn’t actually have roller coasters in them.  That was so disappointing.  “Well, does the elevator, like, go all directions, like the ones in the chocolate factory?  Does the bank have chocolate?” he asked, eyes wide.  “Imagine... a chocolate bank.”  Shaking his head and bringing his attention back to the conversation, he nodded and grinned.  “Excuse me!” he leaned over the bar a bit, waving over at the bartender who seemed not pleased with Mark leaning over but an expression showing that this was not the first time he’s done this.  “Bala... Baladin-Nora?  One of those please for this fine gentleman!”